Chapter 11: Haruka and Minako's Hot Date!

Usagi was not a happy bunny. While she could hardly be considered a fan of
school, she would much rather be there than stuck in Makoto's apartment being
subjected to every conceivable test a certain blue-haired genius could think
of.

The fact that Makoto was quite willing to cook anything she wanted softened
the blow a bit, but not that much.

"Ami-chan you're probably missing out on a whole lot
of learning, not to mention the damage your attendance record must be taking."
Usagi tried valiantly to get her friend to give up.

Alas, she was having none of it. "I'm several months ahead of the rest
of the class in everything, and one afternoon off won't hurt me that much,"
Ami said dismissively as she tapped a few keys on her mini-supercomputer. "I
need to find out what happened to you back there."

"Usagi, you nearly died!" Ami snapped, causing Usagi
to cringe away from her. Noticing her reaction, Ami composed herself a bit "Sorry,
but it did seem like you were dying, and there didn't seem to be any realistic
way to save you. I don't know how you recovered this time, but next time you
might not be so lucky."

"Fine, test away." Usagi slumped back in the couch,
accepting her fate with as much decorum as she could muster, which wasn't much.
Her nerves were still shot from talking to Mamoru, and though it had went a
lot better than she had anticipated, a very large part of her was still uncertain
if things would ever return to normal between them.

She was surprised no one had pumped her for information about their conversation
after Mamoru left. Rei and Minako had even agreed to return to school without
putting up much of a fight at all. 'If only the same was true for Ami and
Makoto ' Usagi thought disconsolately.

Chibi-Usa had also remained; she was currently in the kitchen
with Makoto, getting a free cooking lesson, and probably eating half the food
before it had a chance to get near Usagi.

'Is this my life now?' Usagi thought 'Spending all my time being
watched and protected by my guardians? I guess I really am becoming the stereotypical
'helpless princess' now ' The thought caused her to chuckle slightly,
but Ami was too wrapped up in analysing data or something to notice 'I'd
never thought about it before, but princesses really do have boring lives
there definitely wasn't a Sailor Moon during the Moon Kingdom. I should ask
Chibi-Usa about her life as a princess in the future sometime.'

Thinking about the future reminded her of her meeting with Neo Queen Serenity.
'She didn't seem unhappy with her life.' Usagi thought to herself before
remembering the letter she had received. Putting a hand in her pocket, she saw
it was still there. 'I may as well read it now ' she took it out
and carefully ripped open the envelope. Ami gave her quizzical look, but Usagi
ignored her as she unfolded the paper.

Dear Usagi of the 20th Century,Firstly, you may as well tell Ami to stop her tests; she's
not going to find anything.

Usagi blinked several times at that opening line before realisation struck
her. 'Of course, she used to be me so she remembers when she read it when
she was me!' Her head started to spin as she considered that the Queen
had once been her receiving the letter, and she would one day be the Queen writing
the letter. Shaking the thought off, she resumed reading.

I can't tell you what did cause your fainting — Pluto
would skin me alive, Queen or not, if I did. Sorry. In fact, there's
very little I can tell you, I'm afraid. But don't feel too bad; what
fun is life without surprises?

All I can say is, no matter how bad things get, you must never
give up hope. Despite what others (and even yourself at times) may think,
you are a remarkable young woman, and when you truly believe in yourself,
your power is unrivalled by anyone. No matter who might say otherwise.

You should also keep faith in the ones you love. I know you're
hurting deeply over what Mamo-chan did, but you have already taken the
first steps towards healing. Just remember that he loves you just as
much as you love him. And don't be afraid to depend on the Senshi —
they are worried about you, and don't like to see you bear suffering
alone.

Anyway, I'm sure you've had enough of my prattling, so I'll leave
off here. Give my love to Small Lady, and good luck with what lies ahead.

Sincerely,N.Q.S

Usagi smiled at the little manga style drawing of Neo Queen
Serenity giving a victory sign at the bottom. Despite the slightly ominous feeling
that the Queen was being careful to avoid mentioning something very terrible
that would happen in the near future, Usagi still felt rather uplifted at what
she had just read.

As she folded up the letter and replaced it in the envelope,
Ami finally gave in to her curiosity and asked "What was that?"

"Just a little reminder I wrote myself." Usagi said cryptically as
she pocketed the envelope.

The following day, Haruka and Michiru were getting ready for
Michiru's concert. Haruka was looking rather nervous, so Michiru was finally
driven to ask what was bothering her.

"Ah actually, Michiru I kind of need an extra ticket for tonight "
Haruka answered, hoping Michiru would give her one without any questions, but
knowing that was highly unlikely.

"What do you need another one for? Are you bringing someone
along?" Michiru asked, a hint of teasing in her tone.

"Ah you remember that girl we met at the game centre?"
At Michiru's nod Haruka continued "Well, she beat me at that racing game
and decided I should take her on a date as a prize I kind of invited her
to your performance tonight "

Michiru tutted, "Young women these days are so forward " She
gave Haruka a mocking smile. "Am I to play the possessive girlfriend and
scare her off?"

Haruka gave her a pleading look. "Please?"

"Not on your life," Michiru said firmly. "You got yourself into
this mess, you get out of it." She sighed loudly. "Honestly, I have
warned you about all that shameless flirting."

"I really didn't think she'd be so forward," Haruka said helplessly.

"Oh, my Haruka " Michiru went over to her and put a hand on
her cheek. "So much to learn about women "

"You're not going to help at all?" Haruka asked,
sounding very betrayed.

"Well I could let you wear one of my dresses. I think that would
send a strong enough message," Michiru suggested none too helpfully.

"You know I can't fill them out as well as you," Haruka purred seductively
as she put her arms around Michiru from behind.

Michiru laughed airily as she escaped Haruka's grasp. "Flattery is what
got you into this mess, don't use it to get out. You're on your own, Ten'ou
Haruka. Besides, I have my own special guests coming tonight."

"Really? Who?" Haruka asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Three cute girls," Michiru said simply.

"Three?" Haruka echoed, sounding impressed. "You're
three times better than I am!"

"Or three times worse." Michiru pouted. "But I'm not like you.
They happened to be interested in my art, so I invited them to my performance
tonight."

"What do they look like?" Haruka asked, simply because
that was the first thing she thought of.

"You've already seen two of them. At Tokyo Tower on Saturday "
Michiru said leadingly. As comprehension dawned on Haruka's features Michiru
nodded. "The soldier of destruction and the girl who was attacked."

Haruka let out a long whistle. "Tonight won't be boring at all, will it?"

Michiru chuckled. "I certainly hope not."

Professor Tomoe finished leafing through the reports from
the Witches 5 and set down the folder on his desk before picking up the phone
and dialling the group's number.

After several minutes, it was finally picked up on the other end. "This
is Witches 5, Eudial speaking."

The professor was pleased she had answered; it would have
been awkward if one of the others had answered and he had to tell them their
proposals weren't accepted. They all had such large egos. "Eudial-kun,
I've finished going over your report, and I'm interested in your method for
finding pure hearts."

"My method is far better than trusting the judgement of a daimon,"
Eudial said immodestly.

"Yes. That is why I am having you take over Kaolinite-kun's position.
Do you have a target ready?"

"Yes, I do," Eudial replied. She had anticipated being picked ahead
of the others and was already prepared. "He is a renowned virtuoso on the
piano named Takio Kuragame."

"A musician? Well, following your report, I will prepare
an appropriate daimon to act as bodyguard. I hope you succeed."

"I'm sure I will," Eudial said as she set down the phone on her end.

The professor set down his phone and started preparing the daimon incubator.
Then he went into a small storage room and started rummaging through the assorted
cardboard boxes. "I'm sure it's here somewhere " he muttered
to himself as he searched. Finally he retrieved what he was looking for —
a children’s keyboard.

Taking it back into the lab, he placed it into the incubator
and inserted an unformed daimon egg before activating the incubator. Foul smelling
pink smoke started to come out and a klaxon blared.

Before long, a voice came from inside the incubator. The daimon's
voice, indicating it was now ready.

"Greensleeves!"

Haruka parked her car outside the Crown Arcade and looked around for a certain
forward girl. 'At least she didn't insist I pick her up from her home '
she thought, trying to look on the bright side.

'And on the bright side, I'm taking out a beautiful young woman,'
she thought. Minako was certainly attractive. 'But I have Michiru!'
she told herself firmly.

Alas, Michiru found the situation rather amusing, and had even taken a taxi
to the theatre she was playing at rather than be 'the third wheel on your
hot date', as she had put it oh-so-delicately.

"I just have to find some way to let her down gently " Haruka
said, unaware that she was talking to herself. She briefly wished that she had
taken Michiru up on her offer to let her borrow a dress. She probably wouldn't
see Minako for the dust if she did that.

"Haruka-san!" A cheerful voice brought her out of her reverie.

"Ah, koneko-chan!" Haruka looked up and saw Minako standing by the
car, then did a swift double-take. She wasn't just cute, she was stunning! She
was wearing a lilac dress which came down to her knees and made her look several
years older. 'Damn! If I didn't have Michiru ' Haruka forced herself
not to go down that particular line of reasoning.

"You look gorgeous," Haruka said truthfully as she opened the passenger
door.

"I'm glad!" Minako said, overjoyed at the compliment. "You look
as handsome as ever tonight." She returned the favour while sitting down
next to Haruka.

"Oh ah, thank you." Haruka blushed a little before coughing and
focusing her attention on driving.

"Is it okay for a high school student to drive?"
Minako wondered aloud as the yellow convertible began racing through the streets
of Tokyo.

Haruka blanched. She had never really thought about the fact that it was technically
illegal for her to drive on public roads in Japan. Her good driving ensured
the police never had a reason to pull her over. "I ah got my
licence overseas," she said at last.

"Oh " Minako accepted the explanation without further interrogation
mainly because she was flying on cloud nine from the fact that she was going
on a date with what seemed to be the perfect man. 'Maybe he can be the one
to help me finally get over Alan ' she thought, the memory of her
first love in England calling up bittersweet memories.

Shaking off those memories so she could concentrate on the present, Minako
returned her attention to Haruka. "So, who will be playing at this classical
music concert?" she asked — not that she expected to recognise any musicians,
but just for simple conversation.

"Some of the best contemporary classical musicians in
Japan will be there tonight. Including Michiru " Haruka said leadingly.

"Ara, your friend Michiru? I didn't know she was a musician, especially
not a famous one," Minako said, totally unperturbed. After all, Michiru
had said herself that she had no relationship with Haruka, and that was good
enough for her.

Haruka noticed her failure to dampen Minako's enthusiasm at the mention of
Michiru and suppressed a sigh. This was going to be a long night.

"Wow, I can't believe Michiru-san gave us box seats," Usagi enthused
as she, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru were led to a box overlooking the stage.

"Yes, that was very nice of her," Hotaru said as she looked down
at the packed normal seats. She preferred not to be surrounded by people like
that.

Usagi took out the programme she had bought and checked the schedule for the
evening. "Michiru-san will be playing second. The first performance is
the Kobe wind instrument group " She looked at all the other musicians
and was a little surprised. "Michiru-san and a pianist called Takio Kuragame
are the only people performing solo tonight. She must be very good."

Usagi obediently put her programme away and focused her attention on the stage,
where the Kobe wind instrument group were starting to play.

A few boxes away, Haruka and Minako were likewise silent as
they listened to the music being played. Haruka noticed Minako kept sneaking
glances at her, but tried not to pay it too much mind.

She was surprised when after a few minutes, Minako took her hand. But she decided
not to pull away and hurt her feelings. 'Besides, we're only touching hands;
that doesn't mean anything ' she rationalised.

After the Kobe group had finished, there was a short break before Michiru came
on. 'She looks as beautiful as ever, my Michiru ' Haruka thought
on seeing her. Then 'Was it just my imagination, or did she wink at me?'

Over in her own box, Hotaru noticed the wink and pointed it out to her friends.
"I think she was winking to that box over there," she whispered.

Usagi and Chibi-Usa turned to look and nearly had heart attacks. "M-Minako-chan!"

They both gasped, seeing their friend in a private box with a handsome "man".

"Boy, wait till I tell the girls about this "
Usagi whispered to herself, before shutting up as Michiru started to play.

When she finally finished playing, she was given rapturous applause by the
audience. "She really is wonderful," gushed Hotaru as she gave a standing
ovation.

"She's certainly talented," agreed Chibi-Usa, who was also sneaking
a glance at Haruka and Minako's box. Unfortunately, she never saw anything juicy;
they were just applauding like everyone else.

As the applause trailed off, Haruka sat back down and put her hands on her
lap in the hope that would take them out of reach for Minako. If Michiru were
around, she would surely have lamented the naiveté of her partner.

'Chance!' Minako thought gleefully as she sat down closer and put
a hand over Haruka's on "his" lap.

Haruka blushed as Minako did this. She was far more used to being the hunter
than the hunted, and it was making her terribly nervous; but she couldn't see
any way out that wasn't rude.

After several more performances, there was an intermission, and Michiru took
the opportunity to come and visit Usagi and her friends. "Hello, girls.
I'm glad you made it," she said as she stepped into their box.

"Michiru-san! Thank you for getting us these great seats.
Your performance was very good!" Usagi greeted her enthusiastically.

"I've never been to a concert like this before, but I'm having a good
time," Hotaru said sincerely.

Michiru smiled at them "I'm glad you like it." She angled her head
to get a look at Haruka's box. She was sitting rather uncomfortably while Minako
looked the picture of contentment as she rested her head on the older girls
shoulder. It almost made her feel sorry enough to go and help Haruka out, but
she firmed her resolve. The best way to cure Haruka of her flirting problem
would be to show her the consequences, and it did not seem like she was enjoying
them

Which Michiru actually thought was a bit odd; Minako was undeniably beautiful.
'I'm surprised Haruka isn't taking advantage of the situation '
Michiru thought, gaining a bit more respect for her partner.

Chibi-Usa saw where Michiru was looking and said, "That's our friend Minako
we had no idea she'd be here, though."

"Ara, you know her?" Michiru asked.

"Yes, she's a good friend. I'm glad she seems to have
found a nice guy after having such bad luck in the past " Usagi lamented,
remembering when she had learned of Minako's unrequited love back in England.

Michiru could hardly believe that such a good-looking girl would have bad luck
in love, but it certainly made her feel bad about the fact that her luck with
Haruka would not be good.

"It looks like they're starting again," Hotaru observed as a man
took a seat by a piano on stage and the lights were dimmed.

"That's Takio Kuragame. He's supposed to be really good," Michiru
told them. "I had better go backstage. I'll see you again at the end, okay?"
she said before departing.

A few minutes into his performance, Chibi-Usa spoke. "Hey, what's all
that smoke down there?"

Usagi and Hotaru both peered over and saw a thin gas covered
most of the floor seating, and everyone seemed to be asleep. A figure in a gas
mask leapt onto the stage and removed the mask once she was clear of the smoke.

"What are you doing?" Takio demanded as he stopped
playing.

"I want to see your pure heart!" Eudial took out
her gun and aimed it at him.

"Pure heart?!" Chibi-Usa echoed, recognition dawning.

"I'll go get help. Chibi-Usa, stay here with Hotaru," Usagi ordered
as she dashed out of the box to transform. She hoped Minako would have the sense
to do likewise.

Checking no one was around, she took out her brooch and called forth her henshin.
"Moon Crystal Power Make UP!!" It was the first time she had
transformed since before going to Crystal Tokyo, but it was as familiar as ever.

Meanwhile, on the stage, Eudial had shot Takio and was checking his heart crystal.
'How do I tell if it's a talisman again?' she tried to remember, but
was interrupted.

"Stop right there!" a figure silhouetted against a floodlight ordered
her.

"Who?!" Eudial looked up at the intruder.

"You disturbed the beautiful melody! For love and justice, the sailor-suited
pretty fighter Sailor Moon will punish you!" Sailor Moon leapt down onto
the stage and did her poses.

"Damned pest," Eudial said dismissively, before cupping her hands
around her mouth and yelling, "Come out, daimon!"

"Greensleeves!" The daimon, which looked like a
woman with piano keys all down her torso, charged into the fray.

"Daimon, remove this annoyance!" Eudial commanded.

Up in their box, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru watched. "Don't worry, Hotaru, Sailor
Moon will beat the monster!" Chibi-Usa said, wishing that she could go
and try out her own henshin, but realising it was best to stay with Hotaru.
She looked over to Minako's box and saw that both she and her date were missing.

"Chopsticks!" The daimon started pressing the keys
on her body and a sonic wave blasted at Sailor Moon, who barely managed to dodge
it.

Leaping up onto the piano, Sailor Moon readied her attack, taking out the cutie
moon rod, she began charging up with power. "Moon Princess Halation!!"
She released a massive blast of pink energy, which would have been enough to
kill Rubeus several times over, at the daimon.

The daimon retaliated with a sonic wave, and the two attacks
battled briefly before Sailor Moon was overpowered and hit by the tail end of
the blast.

'I can't believe it didn't work!' was all Sailor Moon thought as she
was knocked into the air.

Chibi-Usa watched with her heart in her mouth as Sailor Moon did all she could
to dodge the follow-up attacks. She was losing badly. 'I have to help her!'
Chibi-Usa thought before turning to Hotaru. "Stay here. I'll see if I can
find any help," she said before dashing out the box.

"So much for punishing me!" Eudial taunted. "Daimon! Finish
her!"

"Hai!" The daimon began pressing more keys, preparing
a final sonic blast which would surely kill Sailor Moon.

"Deep Submerge!!" A sphere of blue energy slammed
into the daimon, making it release its attack as it fell. The sonic blast destroyed
the piano, but hurt no one.

"Is that all your power? You shouldn't fight, in that case," Sailor
Neptune said harshly to the prone Sailor Moon.

Meanwhile, Sailor Uranus leapt down and stole the heart crystal
from Eudial, eliciting a "Hey!" From the latter.

"This isn't a talisman," Uranus said, tossing it over to Neptune.

"You should be gentler with a musician's heart," Neptune chided her
partner as she replaced the crystal.

The two prepared to leave, but a voice stopped them. "Hold it right there!"
Sailor Venus appeared on stage, causing Eudial to groan with annoyance at all
the Sailor Senshi. "Are you just going to leave now, when the enemy hasn't
been defeated?"

"All we care about are the talismans," Neptune said firmly as she
turned her back on Venus.

"If you need our help, then you aren't really a Sailor Senshi," Uranus
said before the pair disappeared.

"The two strong ones are gone, daimon. Kill the others!" Eudial ordered
the creature.

As it happened, the gem on the top of the rod sparkled briefly and nothing
happened. "Hey, it doesn't seem to work," the daimon observed, looking
closely at the pink moon rod.

Not one to give up, especially on her first battle, Chibi
Moon did the only thing she could think of to make the damn thing work. She
shook it. After several seconds of this, a stream of small hearts flew out and
hit the daimon's nose.

"Itai! Itai! Itai!" The daimon put up its hands
to ward off the irritating and slightly painful attack.

Meanwhile, Sailor Venus had taken the time to charge up her
own ultimate attack. "Venus Wink Chain Sword!!" She thrust the sword
at the daimon, killing it with a lance of golden light.

Seeing her "bodyguard" dead, Eudial decided it was a good idea to
vacate the area. Forgoing the traditional 'I'll get you next time' speech, she
snuck out quietly, hoping no one would notice her.